OpenCores

OpenCores

What is this project about?

Help OpenCores create a "super-low-cost" SoC ASIC component based on the OpenRISC processor. This ASIC will then be offered for sale to the community to use freely in any products, especially for the donors. Your donation is very important allowing us to implement the design into a cost-efficient ASIC technology.

Our mission

Please help us "revolutionize" the electronic hardware industry and to make the semiconductor giants tremble, by making a donation to design/manufacture an ASIC-component based on the world's only "true" open-source 32-bit RISC processor supporting Linux (the OpenRISC processor from OpenCores.org). We want to provide an alternative to the profit-hunting semiconductor giants who only provide "cost efficient prices" to large multi-national companies. We want to make it feasible to compete on even and fair conditions, which would be possible if we ALL contribute to create a universal OpenRISC processor ASIC component. This hardware development approached has never been done before in history, and we hope that this first project will start a trend so that we, together, can develop more "true" open-source community-funded SoC ASICs in the future.

Our plan

The plan is to develop a complete SoC design (System-on-Chip) and implement it into an ASIC-component, and then offer it back to the OpenCores community as a "super-low-cost" processor based SoC ASIC-component, that can be used to develop commercial products without any restrictions or royalties. A development board will also be developed using this OpenRISC-ASIC running Linux, enabling users to develop complete cost-efficient Linux based products.

More detailed technical information about the SoC-design is available at the link below:
OpenRISC ASIC draft specification

Donation

Together we can change the electronics industry, by donating this project.

We really encourage ALL members in our community to "pitch in" and help us make this project real. Please also help us spread this message through out the world to other communities, in other words "the more the merrier".

We hope that our efforts and massive contribution to OpenCores and with the OpenRISC processor development proves the fact that we FULLY embrace and support the "true" open-source methodology.

All donations count, whether it's $1 or $10,000. The most important thing is that we can collect enough money so that we can afford producing an ASIC, which is quite expensive, but on the other hand will provide the lowest possible unit-cost which is super critical in order to enable our community to create low-cost commercial products.

We will have a "donation list" showing all the donors, with a top-50 and one list with all donors visible without showing the donated amount. We will of course also accept anonymous donations, for those who might work for a large Semiconductor company :-)

Please see the FAQ for more questions.